News Patrol! Wrote:
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> Engine fire triggers new turbulence for Lockheed's
> F-35 jet
>
http://news.yahoo.com/engine-fire-triggers-turbule
> nce-lockheeds-f-35-jet-113750567.html
>
> RAF FAIRFORD England (Reuters) - Borne of the last
> downturn in U.S. military spending in the 1990s,
> Lockheed Martin Corp's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter
> was intended as a quick and affordable way for the
> United States and its allies to replace thousands
> of aging F-16s and other warplanes while avoiding
> the pitfalls of earlier programs.
>
> Nearly two decades and a $166 billion jump in
> projected costs later, the world's largest arms
> program was poised for a high-profile
> international debut at two British air shows when
> the Pratt & Whitney engine on one of the jets
> broke apart and caught fire during a takeoff from
> a Florida air base.
>
> The incident has grounded the existing fleet of 97
> F-35 jets and triggered a fresh wave of criticism
> about the costly new warplane, although U.S. and
> British officials are underscoring their continued
> commitment to the program, which now has a revised
> price tag of $398.6 billion.
>
> The latest engine issue came weeks after an
> in-flight oil leak that sparked a brief grounding
> in June, but U.S. officials remain hopeful the jet
> will at least fly at the bigger of the two UK
> events - the Farnborough Airshow that starts on
> July 14.
>
> Lockheed‘s F-35 program manager Lorraine Martin
> told reporters that the planes would miss the
> first day of the Royal International Air Tattoo
> air show, but could still arrive in time to fly at
> the event, which continues through July 12. She
> said Lockheed had spare parts on hand at the air
> field in case they were needed.
>
> British Defense Secretary Philip Hammond on
> Wednesday said the F-35 may miss the Air Tattoo
> given the grounding order, but said he was
> optimistic that the plane would fly at
> Farnborough.
>
> It would be a huge embarrassment if it misses
> that show too, and could undermine export interest
> in the jet just as several countries including
> Canada and Denmark, both of which helped fund
> development of the jet, are weighing F-35 orders.
>
> DEVELOPMENTAL TESTING
>
> With three different models, supersonic speed and
> cutting-edge electronics, the F-35 was designed as
> a multi-service, multi-national program to lower
> development and production costs. Yet early
> technical challenges drove the cost of the program
> nearly 70 percent over initial estimates.
>
> Pentagon officials say the F-35 is finally making
> progress after several major restructurings and
> years of delays, but also say the jet still has 40
> percent of developmental testing to go.
>
> The sheer complexity and scale of the program,
> which involves three U.S. military services and 9
> other countries that have placed firm orders, also
> mean that grounding and technical issues have a
> far wider impact than on a single-service weapon.
>
> Lockheed is developing and building three models
> of the F-35 for the U.S. Air Force, Navy and
> Marine Corps, and a growing number of countries.
>
> Analysts say the latest technical issue
> underscores the danger of starting production of a
> new weapons system before all testing is finished,
> a practice known as "concurrency".
>
> Frank Kendall, the Pentagon's chief arms buyer,
> has called that approach "acquisition
> malpractice", and is putting in place reforms to
> avoid similar problems on other weapons programs.
>
> The Pentagon recently lowered its estimate for
> the cost of concurrency - or retrofitting existing
> F-35 jets to correct design problems - but
> officials warn that new issues can always crop up,
> such as the June 23 incident in Florida.
>
> "Engineering discoveries are a normal part of
> this and every other aircraft development program.
> Some of them are relatively insignificant, and
> others more concerning, but with each test event
> and every training mission we are learning and
> constantly improving," said U.S. Air Force
> Lieutenant General Christopher Bogdan, who runs
> the Pentagon's F-35 Joint Program Office.
>
> The F-35 program is still in development, but the
> airplanes are already being used for training and
> some operations, and the Marine Corps plans to
> start using them in combat from July 2015.
>
> Marine Lieutenant General Jon Davis, deputy
> commandant for aviation, reiterated those plans in
> a statement to Reuters, noting that the jet's
> capabilities would "revolutionize the way the
> Marine Corps projects power from the sea and the
> shore".
>
> But he said the Marine Corps would not declare an
> "initial operating capability", or IOC, next year
> if any capability defined in its requirements was
> not delivered.
>
> Bogdan provided no details on the investigation
> into the engine incident, but said he was
> confident in the plane's design and operation
> given its "increased maturity and stability".
>
> He said everyone involved in the F-35 program was
> working "day and night" to try to understand the
> cause of the engine failure, and safety remained
> the program's top priority.
>
> A strictly controlled U.S. Air Force
> investigation into the engine failure continues,
> which means U.S. government and industry officials
> are more tight-lipped than ever.
>
> But questions are emerging about quality control
> issues at Pratt, which faced problems with fuel
> lines last year.
>
> "This could have serious consequences for Pratt
> unless they can say without a doubt why this part
> failed, and can convince the Joint Program Office
> that this was a one-off thing," said one defense
> official who was not authorized to speak
> publicly.
>
> The program's complex structure - with jets
> already owned by three different military services
> and two foreign countries - has also revealed the
> need to better coordinate any moves by
> "airworthiness" authorities to suspend flights.
>
> In this case, the Air Force launched its standard
> safety investigation procedures after the engine
> incident, quarantining the jet and locking out the
> other services, as per its protocols. But that
> left many questions unanswered for the other
> military services and global partners on the
> program.
>
> The Pentagon is expected to revamp the process to
> ensure better coordination in the future, said
> multiple sources familiar with the program.
That's alot of money to be pumping into a plane. Why so much?